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Venom On Track For Record $60 Million Domestic Opening

Despite the film's largely negative early reviews, Sony's Venom looks set to break an October box office record.

Early projections indicated Venom could prove to break an October box office record with projections at the time suggesting an opening of between $55 million and $85 million was entirely possible. Of course, that was before reviews began to hit. But in the latest tracking report from Deadline, director Ruben Fleischer's film is on a course to take the top spot at the domestic box office this weekend with a haul of between $60 million and $65 million, a new October box office record -- surpassing the 2013 debut of Gravity.

Gravity, which starred Sandra Bullock, opened with an impressive $55.7 million, securing a new box office record for an October release. As it stands, Venom looks set to only slightly beat that figure by somewhere between $5 million and $10 million when it rolls out this weekend in 4,250 theaters. For most superhero features, a $60 million domestic opening is far from ideal, especially when they have production budgets in the $100 million range. So, it'll be interesting to see how Sony responds should the film fall short of expectations.

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And it's entirely possible current estimates could dip significantly between now and Sunday, especially as word of mouth may not work in Venom's favor. While the film's initial trailer surprised, even going on to surpass the online views received by last summer's blockbuster, Wonder Woman, Venom hasn't generated a lot of positive buzz lately.